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Donation of new trams from Basel

Press releases, 03.06.2015

The First Amendment to the Agreement on the Financial Assistance for the Provision of Used Trams for the City of Belgrade, which includes the donation of additional vehicles to the City Public Transport Company, was signed today by Sinisa Mali, Mayor of the City of Belgrade, Isabel Perich, Director of the Swiss Cooperation Office Serbia and Zeljko Milkovic, Director of City Public Transport Company “Beograd”.

Basel trams in Belgrade©SDC
Basel trams in Belgrade

– Today, we signed a very significant document for the City of Belgrade. It is the Agreement on the donation of 28 trams, 10 tramcars and spare parts from the City of Basel that should arrive to our city at the end of 2015 and in the first half of 2016. With this cooperation, the donation from Basel shall make up almost one third of Belgrade tram fleet. In the previous period, these trams have proven to be very reliable, so the citizens of our Capital shall receive a high service quality – said Mr. Mali.  

He remarked that the goal of the City of Belgrade is improvement of the whole urban transport system.

– This donation shall significantly contribute to this and I use the opportunity to express my gratitude to the Swiss Government, as well as to Basel transport companies BVB and BLT – Mr. Mali said and added that during this visit to City Public Transport Company “Beograd” he held a meeting with the Management of the Company in order to learn about its business and difficulties.   

The Mayor reminded everyone that last week he started with his visits to public utility companies within the territory of Belgrade. 

– The plan is that my co-workers and I visit one public utility company per week in order to learn about their problems and try to solve them together. City Public Transport Company “Beograd” has great financial issues, which is why the consolidation plan is being implemented in order to reduce the expenses and increase the business efficiency -   explained Mr. Mali and reminded all that the City of Belgrade managed to provide the means for 50 new buses for which the public invitation shall be published by the end of this month.

– Apart from new buses, it is our desire to buy the first five, up to eight-meter long electric buses this year. In this way, we shall design one line to be operated exclusively by electric buses. This line shall be linked to the city center and improve the air quality in the Capital – the Mayor pointed out.  

– In addition, the news is that wireless internet shall be introduced in the public transport vehicles. It is foreseen that 32 passengers can be online simultaneously, which is a rarity even in the world. 

Trams signing ceremony©SDC
Trams signing ceremony ©SDC

Director of Swiss Cooperation Office Serbia, Isabel Perich, highlighted that, since 2001, the City of Basel has donated 38 trams and 36 tramcars to Belgrade. She added that trams are considered as the most energy efficient transport mode and are harmless to the environment. 

– Swiss trams are long-lasting and less prone to failures. As such, they contribute the improvement of efficiency and safety of public transport in Belgrade. In the last 15 years, Swiss Government provided 4.2 million Swiss Francs for this project, while the total assistance of Swiss Government to Serbia exceeded 300 million Swiss Francs in the last 24 years – emphasized Isabel Perich.

The above-mentioned donation is a part of the project started in 2001 on the basis of which Belgrade has received 75 vehicles and a significant quantity of spare parts from Basel. With this, the project conducted in the cooperation of Swiss Government, the City of Belgrade and City Public Transport Company “Beograd” shall be completed.

The signing was also attended by City Manager Goran Vesic, Assistant to the Mayor Borko Milosavljevic and Deputy Director of the Swiss Cooperation Office Serbia Gabriela Schafroth.

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Last update 08.11.2023